Jackson back for seconds

Raiders offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is interviewing for the 49ers’ head coach position today, a league source said this morning (and first reported by Matt Maoicco, the best I can tell from Twitter’s timeline).

Just think, if Mike Singletary had just hired Jackson in the first place, maybe Jackson wouldn’t be interviewing for his job today.

Jackson interviewed for the 49ers’ offensive coordinator in 2009, but Singletary went with Jimmy Raye instead. And be sure, Jackson wanted the job as a then-quarterbacks coach in Baltimore.

“It was a position I seriously did consider. It just didn’t go right at the time,” Jackson said before the 49ers and Raiders played in October. “Obviously they went in a different direction and I was back in Baltimore and and wished him well, and I’m here in Oakland.”

“That was their call at the time. And that’s OK. I feel I’m where I’m supposed to be now, here with the Raiders getting this organization where it needs to be.”

The unanswerable question is, could Jackson have gotten the 49ers where they needed to be under Singletary’s heavy hand?

He did it for a Raiders offense that ranked 10th in offense this year. Their offense ranked 31st in 2009 without Jackson, and 29th the year before, and 25th the year before that, and 32nd the year before that. (Side rant: Yeah, thanks Raiders for getting watchable the year I’m taken off the beat. Nice.)

And, Jackson did what Singletary always wanted his 49ers to do — he ran the ball with brutal authority. The Raiders ranked second in NFL rushing despite an offensive line with as many holes and inexperience as the 49ers had this season.

Jackson even showed he can manage flip-flops at quarterback as they went back and forth between Bruce Gradkowski, Jason Campbell and Kyle Boller.

In other words, Jackson got incredible results despite dealing with many of the same problems the 49ers had on offense. He overcame them. Singletary didn’t. That is why the former is now interviewing for the latter’s job.

In the end, Jackson is facing an uphill climb to get this job. As a minority candidate, he lets the 49ers satisfy the Rooney Rule in a head coach search they want to start and end with Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh.

And don’t feel sorry for Jackson as if he’s getting used here. This interview request very well may have been what got Raiders owner Al Davis to shove coach Tom Cable out the door after an 8-8 season — Davis wants Jackson as his next head coach, and is moving quickly to make sure the 49ers don’t get their hands on him.

Jackson wins here either way. The 49ers just better hope he doesn’t show them up by doing a better job across the Bay than the guy they end up hiring.